Only So Many Truths
by Shilana
Summary: A force is sweeping across the globe killing criminals left and right, but not only those who commit crimes, but others who happen to get in the way as well. Batman struggles to figure out who or what is doing it before the force strikes Gotham city.
1. The Beginning and the End

**Only So Many Truths**

_Author's notes: For story purposes this takes place before the whole "Catwoman goes to Jail" arch in the comics. While a few characters appear that are of my (and my friend's) creation, Batman and co belong to WB and DC comics._

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**Chapter 1 – The Beginning and the End**

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Click.

_"According to our sources the murders were committed execution style. We have been unable to confirm or deny any suspects as of the moment. However, there seems to be an obvious trial throughout the united states and rest of the world even. Do you believe we are dealing with a serial killer?"_

_The Police Chief, who was ignoring the reporter for the most part let out a sigh as the microphone was shoved into his face. He pushed it away. "I cannot comment at the moment, let be assured we have our best men on it, and will release a statement shortly."_

_"Sir, you can't expect us to believe that…."_

Click.

"Do you have to watch that dreadful news at these ours? I would think you would get enough of that sort of thing daily."

"Alfred." Bruce set down the television remote on the stand next to the couch. "The trail of crimes seems to be leading straight to Gotham City, I have every right to be worried." He shook his head, glancing over at his butler – his friend – his caregiver. Sometimes he put far too much thought into his life, and it showed by the expression playing on the older man's face. "Now, don't give me that look. I am not planning on doing anything … yet. It is hard enough to protect the city at times as it is. We honestly do not need another killer or killers stalking the city." He rose from the couch.

"Didn't the news say that the killer seemed to be targeting other 'menaces to society' so to speak?" Alfred paid no mind otherwise, he was busy tiding up, wondering how in all the years, Bruce has still managed to leave such a mess no matter what.

"Yes, but, they don't seem to care who else is there. Innocent and the 'guilty' are being hurt a like. Besides, the law should be left up to decide what happens to these criminals. I don't believe all of them deserved to be killed like that. I made a promise to protect the city, and somehow that even includes the criminals in it."

"What will you do if the murders start happening here?"

Bruce stopped before heading out of the room. He turned, a slight smirk played upon his lips. "Stop them of course."

The older man just watched as the multi-millionaire stepped out. "Somehow I was afraid of that."

Bruce was truly bothered by the situation. It wasn't the first time someone decided to take out all of the villains in the world, but last time, it was only those who did wrong who were the targets – not everyone else as well. He sat down in his personal study, while the room was dark; it gave him the solitude and aura he needed to think – which is especially what his mind was calling out for him to do at the moment. Wiping away the sweat from his forehead he recalled everything he was doing and why. Some of the questions he failed to answer, while others, he refused to. Once he even considered what it would be like if he just let the true terrors of the world die, instead of saving even them. Some have gone on to tell him he was a fool for rescuing those who did harm onto the city and others; but he had convinced himself that it was the right thing to do. He shouldn't start doubting himself now. _Maybe that's what the city needs, someone without mercy._No. Azrael tried that before, and it didn't work – it was _wrong. _Bruce Wayne – the Batman leaned forward placing his hands upon his knees. Whoever was out there taking down the enemies of the world was also harming the innocent along with it. Something like that would have to be stopped, but it would be wrong to let them get away with putting to end to people, even ones like the Joker. No, he would do the right thing.

He had little time to dwell on the subject when light poured in from the study window. He didn't even have to look to know what it was. Instinctively he went in the opposite direction, only to almost run into Alfred on the way out.

"Master Bruce, it appears that the—" The aging man spoke, but was cut off before he could finish.

"I know, Alfred."

"Then you will be going out tonight?"

"I don't think I have little choice."

"I suppose that will mean I shall be reheating your dinner again tonight?"

Bruce rolled his eyes without even responding to that last comment. He left the room, leaving Alfred to continue going on about him. He knew he meant well, really he did. He just worried about him that was all. He couldn't blame him really, he tended to wonder about himself at times. After all, he dressed in a black and gray bat-suit and paraded around the city striking fear into the hearts of villains. He was probably the least sane out of anyone in Gotham. However, at the moment, that was the least of his concerns. Continuing on his way he moved into the room with the large grandfather clock. Just looking at it brought back early memories of his life. He flipped a switch on it, revealing a secret entrance to a cave far under the mansion. What old house didn't have it's passages and secret pathways? Granted he put them in later, but in all honesty, it actually fit, in respective to movies anyway.

It took him only moments to get into the cave and put on his suit. He had done it numerous times – it was almost second nature by now. He didn't even have to think about it anymore. Times like that almost frightened him. What does it take a person to truly get lost in something that they don't even realize what they were doing anymore? Is this what happened to many of the villains in Gotham? Did they lose so much of their original selves that they simply became monsters? Of course he knew it was far from simple events that could drive a man to madness, but even he felt himself slipping sometimes. What was it that actually kept him from being one of them? Was it the lives he saved? He lost some as well. Jason Todd and Barbara, though while she was not completely lost, she still had suffered.

He tried to get over such things, tell himself that it wasn't his fault, but yet, he still found himself putting the blame back on his own actions. What if there was something else that could be done? What if there was something he missed?

_Get a grip on yourself, Bruce._

But it wasn't his own mind screaming at himself that brought him back to the depths of reality; rather a blinking light on his main computer was all that was needed to do the trick. He moved over to the large machine, but didn't take a seat; he would be leaving soon enough. He was met with a large image of his red and green clad partner.

"Alfred told you?" He didn't even need to ask why he was being contacted.

"Well… yes," responded the boy who seemed to find the whole thing amusing. "Do you want me to meet you at the police station?"

Batman let out a sigh, even if he wanted to, Robin would more than likely object if he said no. "Yes. Batman out."

Shaking his head he broke the connection, not even giving the younger boy a chance to respond, and walked over to the still Batmobile. For some reason he was starting to believe this was going to be a long night.

And it only just begun.  
  
------------------

Jim Gordon, commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department was pacing back and forth on the roof top near the bat-signal he only turned on moments earlier. Normally he would just stay put and wait, but after getting off the phone with another chief justice, he had a lot on his mind – most of which he just wanted to forget.

They faxed over images from other crime scenes. Gruesome, all of them. In his life he had seen many things, and many horrible, bloody crimes, but this – this was just different. If was as if someone had taken all the minds of the most terrible criminals of all time and rolled them into one – or many people all working together for a single goal, killing. Not just _killing_, murdering as they were some sort of avenging angel taking out the whole worlds hatred on every person who met his or their grasp. With all of that in mind, it wasn't even the images that disturbed him, or even the crimes themselves, it was when he received the phone call. He was told a detail that was being kept from the public, well actually two details to be exact. The first one was that it was, so to speak, a serial killer. The crimes were all done in the same style, and to not produce a large panic, the various stations had tried to keep that fact from being dwelled upon. And second, that one crime team had set a trap for the killers, and succeeded in a sense. They used a local known crime boss as bait.

Ten bodies were found at the scene moments after a call for backup was sent out. The officers were killed with a certain "mercy" he was told, not as drastic as the fate of the criminal. Their deaths had been quick, but there was little reason to question why they had chosen to keep that fact as quiet as possible – much to the dismay of the family members no doubt.

Gordon wondered how long they would be able to keep it a secret. Hell, he knew he wouldn't be able for long, people deserved to know what was out there, what was stalking the streets, even if it only seemed to be after those who did wrong. He wasn't sure why the officers had been killed as well. Maybe to protect the identities? Did they not want any witnesses? He supposed that would make sense, especially if it was a group of people. They could possibly want to get rid of as many criminals as possible before someone finally caught them. Though, with what he has heard, he was wondering if it would be even possible to catch them. They were like vigilantes with a really twisted purpose.

Batman. Batman would be able to stop them right? He tried not to put so much faith into a man who ran around in a mask, but he knew and trusted him to protect the city where he couldn't. Without him the city would be a worse hell than it already was. While some may not believe it could get any worse, he knew that it could, it really could.

"Gordon?" The voice from behind caused him to spin around almost startled. He knew who it was, he knew it quite well, but his nerves were already shot as it was shown clearly on his face.

"Batman." He nodded. "I suppose you know why I called you hear?" He nodded as he saw the masked-man's young partner step into view.

"The Vengence Crimes?" Robin spoke up, receiving a glance from the man in black.

"Is that what the news is calling them now?" Gordon shook his head. How did they even know it was about revenge? It made sense, yes. Only someone who has been through a helluva lot could do something this drastic, but if he was right and it was a group of people, it would take maybe a cult leader or even just a bunch of loony-bin rejects to take care of the job. "The media doesn't even know half of it." He shifted in his stance and placed his hands in his coat pocket, looking for some form of warmth or even comfort. "There is _a lot_ more to it. I don't even know where to begin."

"Are you all right, Jim?" Batman questioned, watching Gordon begin to pace again. He shuffled his brows. Something was wrong, and he could instantly tell.

"Honestly? No. I would show you the pictures I was sent, Batman, but even I can't bare to look at them a second time. They should be _burned."_He stopped moving again. "They are starting to kill anyone who gets even remotely close to the crime scene. They took out nine police heavily armed police officers in another state."

Batman didn't respond for a moment, and even Robin seemed to be speechless. "You believe it is a group of people? Perhaps some sort of assassination squad?"

"I wish I knew, I really do, Batman. That would make sense though. They are like you, damn good at what they are doing, but with minds even more twisted than the Joker himself." He brought a hand to his forehead. Now if only he could get those images from haunting him.

"Are you worried they will come here?" Robin decided to jump into the conversation.

"I know they will." Batman glanced down at him, answering in Gordon's place.

"He's right, they will. We have some of the worst criminal minds. I'm going to admit, I wouldn't feel right sending my own men out there if they happen to strike here. But I am really concerned about you." Jim glanced at Batman, studying his face as if to read it, but he couldn't see anything, only an emotionless expression.

"Hey, at least the crime rate is probably down now right?" Robin spoke again, only to receive a cold glare from his mentor. He quickly shrugged back leaving the conversation to the two of them.

"Don't worry, Jim, I've dealt with many things in my lifetime. I will be careful"

"But I don't think anything quite to this nature." He turned around and looked at the Batsignal. "For god's sake they took out nine people in the matter of minutes." He heard nothing in response. He knew Batman and Robin were already gone – that was how things went. He had learned to deal with it after awhile. He would just leave without making a single sound. Sometimes he wished he had that ability, it had to be pretty damned useful at times. Hopefully Batman would heed his warning. Gotham could not afford to lose its greatest hero. He didn't even want to think of a city without the Batman there to help them.

He turned to walk back to the doors that lead to the inside of the building. He shut off the signal on his way there. He had a lot on his mind the whole way back to his office. He just wanted to sit down and get a large cup of coffee, or something to calm his nerves. He was met by a younger officer on the way down the stairs. Apparently his daughter was trying to get in touch with him. She always tended to be worried about his line of work, though, usually it was he, who was afraid something would happen. She was already hurt once, and part of him almost hoped that this new vengeance group would take care of the Joker. He almost _wished_ it would happen. He wondered if he would feel any regret if it did. Probably not, it would be wrong, but he couldn't say he wouldn't be happy if they found the Joker's body sprawled out along the floor.

He stepped into his office which seemed a slight comfort; it was almost his home away from home on long nights like this. Setting his jacket on a chair he walked around to his desk. Picking up the phone receiver he dialed a few numbers and waited for the line to pick up.  
  
"Hello Barbra? I heard you were trying to reach me." He paused for a moment, settling down in his seat. He now wished he had gotten his coffee before making the call. "No, I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind is all." Another pause. "No no, nothing has happened." _Yet._"Of course I'll be careful. You know I will. Yes. I love you too. Have a goodnight." He was almost glad to get off the phone. He could only stall Barbra for so long before she would eventually catch on what was really going on in his mind. But she meant well.

He rose from his chair. He should have really taken on Bullock's advice and installed a coffee machine in here. He didn't see much sense in it then, but now it sure as hell did. His actions froze when he spotted part of an image creeping out from under some papers on his desk – it was one of _those_ pictures. Without thinking, he shoved all the papers into the trash. He didn't care what got thrown a way along with them, just as long as he didn't have to see it anymore.

His eyes pulled away from the trashcan in time to take note of a lone figure in the door way. _Speak of the devil. _He didn't know Bullock to be one just to barge in, but as far as he knew he could have knocked and he wouldn't have heard it. _I'm losing it._ But then he'd fit right in along with the rest of the city, wouldn't he? Did he walk in just as he was shoving the papers away? Did he know anything?

"Yes…what is it?" He finally gathered the strength to speak.

"Uh, yeah, boss, I saw you in the halls. You looked like you needed a drink, I considered bringing you a _real_ drink, but you know, on the job and all." Bullock did his best to smile as he held up a cub of coffee.

In another life Gordon might have kissed him for that, but even he wouldn't go that far. He took the cup from his hand, reaching up to take a sip; his body gave the loudest of cheers. If the detective would have asked for it, he would have given him a promotion at the moment. He sat back down at his desk with the up-most relief. His problems were far from over, but at least he could forget about them for a little while—until he reached the last drop.

"So, boss, uh, what do you think of those crimes taking place all over?" Bullock wasn't sure if he should ask, but he was really just trying to make some sort of conversation.

"I wish I knew. Have we received any more information on whether or not they are going to hit Gotham?"

"Nah, notta thing. Though I hear some of the big shots are starting to get a little shookin' up. Who knows what's going through their minds right now. Probably going to blame the bat for this, him being a vigilante and all."

Gordon let out a sigh and set the coffee cup down on his desk. "You know full well that Batman had nothing to do with this. I believe we are dealing with a psychotic group of people." He knew the detective's feelings regarding a certain caped man, it would actually be rather hard to miss.

"Well, there are a bunch of those masked freaks runnin' around Gotham you know."

"Stop. We both know they had nothing to do with it, they've done a better service for this city than we ever could, no matter how much we would try." He was now growing slightly frustrated, he didn't want to argue over Batman being one of the good guys anymore.  
  
"I know, I know. I'm jus' sayin,' you know how those big shots can be. They don't really take into account all the facts."

"I'm _sure_ that's what you meant."

"Seriously, boss, I don't think the bat had anything to do with it, but, I dunno, it just seems odd."

"Since when have we seen anything normal?"

"You gotta point there." Harvey Bullock shook his head, even his dislike for Batman didn't out weight the actual crimes themselves. "I'll go see if I can dig up any more info. Maybe I can pull a few strings and see what I can find out." He turned to leave.

"Harvey, thank you, for everything."

"Don't mention it boss." He never knew coffee could mean that much to a man; but he shrugged and stepped out of the room. He had no idea.

No idea at all.  
  
-------------------

Batman had little idea what was truly going on inside the commissioner's mind. He wasn't sure at this point if he really wanted to know. Both him and Robin were silent the whole way back to the cave, which Batman used the time to think about the whole situation and what he would do. As of the moment, he didn't have any plans, but he did plan on being prepared. He wouldn't allow anything to happen to his city, not even to the villains who plagued it. Right now, he would focus his efforts on collecting all the information he could – that would be his best bet for the moment. The Batmobile pulled into the batcave and came to a spot in its resting place. The two excited the vehicle and headed towards the main computer, when Batman stopped seeing Alfred up ahead.

"Master Bruce, I took the liberty of heating up your dinner, and to--"

He was cut off. "Hello Bruce." The chair at the computer turned around to reveal a blue and black clad figure.

"—Let master Dick into the mansion." Alfred finished in a slightly aggravated tone.

"What are you doing here?" Batman might not have shown it, but he was actually glad to have someone to discuss the situation with. Him and Nightwing may have had a slight falling about, but they had managed to patch things up for the most part. He had finally allowed the boy to become a man and go out on his own.

"What brings you back to Gotham?" Robin stepped up and gave a smile in Nightwing's direction. Whatever problems Batman may have had, it didn't trickle down to his would-be partner.

"Oracle's kept me posted on a lot of things, and since word of the murders have been spreading, crime has actually gone down in Bludhaven for a time. I figured I'd lend you two a hand." He flashed a grin.

Batman made almost a grunt and moved over to the computer. Robin, on the other hand, was glad to have someone else there who actually knew what it was like to work on the Bat. Sometimes he just didn't understand the man, but really, who could? He was about as elusive as anything and reading him was even more difficult. Nightwing glanced at the boy wonder who just gave a shrug in response.

A communication started to come through the computer, Dick, knowing full well how to run the situation took control and was greeted by the lovely Oracle. "Hey there."

Batman glanced up but remained silent for the moment.

"Do you have any news?" Dick spoke, still in a rather cheerful mood, but Barbra's seem further from truth. He saw her let out a sigh and look at him with a rather solemn expression. "What is it?"

"I've just gotten word from the wire of a new hit down in New York City." She almost seemed nervous as she said the words.

Batman folded his arms across his chest. "Was it the same group?"

"I don't know a whole lot." She paused as if thinking. "But it seems that way. I'm still trying to gather more information, but the police department is staying rather hush-hush on the details."

"Is there any indication of where they might strike next?"

"Not so far, I'll keep my eye out for anything that might give off some clues."

Batman nodded. He broke off into thought as Nightwing and Robin spoke to her a bit more. He didn't pay much attention to what they were saying, he had more important things to focus on. So it seemed they were on the move again. They worked so fast. One crime already happened not too long ago. How were they moving so fast? Plane? Car? Surely something like that would be easy to track. Somehow they were moving across the globe in a quick and stealthy manner. Unless maybe there was more than one group. Maybe one on this side of the world , and another elsewhere. He would take both into account until he knew fully what he was dealing with. The more he learned, however, the less he seemed to know. Even Oracle, who managed to stay at the top of most events, didn't really have any more information than they did. He had to admit, the group, whoever they were, were doing a good job at keeping themselves elusive – and that would make them harder to catch; but that doesn't mean he wouldn't still try.

"Batman, there's something else." Her voice broke him away.

He turned back to her. "Yes? What is it?"

"The latest victim…." She seemed to pause, as if not wanting to go on.

"What about him?" Batman studied her expression through the screen, searching for the sorrow and concern in her eyes.

"It was a woman." She seemed to look away. She didn't want to tell him, he was sure of that much. But why? Why was she trying to keep it from him? Another criminal was killed. A woman, yes, but in New York, it couldn't—

"It was…Catwoman."

Silence echoed throughout the cave.


	2. The Ninth Life

_I always appreciate reviews, thank you to anyone who decided to read the fic. As always excuse any grammar errors, I am horrible at that sort of things._

_Ashley - You wouldn't believe how many people I know who had that exact same response. Don't worry, I had a reason for ending chapter one that way._

**Chapter 2 – The Ninth Life**

He knew Batman couldn't believe – no, he refused to believe it. In fact all he said before leaving was, "I'm going to New York." The others were in shock, yes, but only the dark knight took the news as hard. Robin had suspected something may have been going on between the two, and while he did not particularly like it, he could almost understand what was going on through his mentor's mind. He let out a sigh and slumped back into the chair. He had been placed in charge while the Bat was away. Alfred was kind enough to give him Bruce's dinner saying that it didn't need to go to waste. After Oracle broke communication, Nightwing had gone out to take a look around the city. Things were quiet since the murders started. Maybe even the bad guys started to realize that going out wasn't safe.

The boy wonder spun around in the chair a few times, it was actually _boring_ at the moment. Nightwing told him to stay at the cave incase anything happened. Sometimes it was bad enough that Batman gave him orders, now he had to listen to Dick as well. He let out a sigh. He wished the bat computer had games on it or something, hell, even solitaire would do! Maybe Batman didn't know how to have fun, which could be why he couldn't even put a damned computer game on his system. All he does is work. Sure, Tim understood that quite well, but still, there had to be times when he was sitting around doing absolutely nothing.

He let out another sigh and thought about what happened earlier. He shouldn't be thinking of himself at the moment, that was selfish and he wasn't that sort of person. He had to admit, he did feel bad, from what he knew of Catwoman she wasn't exactly a villain, but not really a hero either. She was sort of in between, and Batman, while he tried to deny it had some obvious form of affection for her. Just by the way he mumbled something every time you mentioned her name, like the rest of them wouldn't figure it out?

Tim hoped Bruce would be all right, he knew he would eventually get over it, but considering how _close_ he suspected the two to be, he wondered how long it would take. His thoughts were interrupted by a transmission from Nightwing. He spun back around in his chair in order to look at the screen.

"Sooo, find anything?"

"Eh." Nightwing shook his head. "No, it's, for lack of better wording, dead out here. Any word from Batman?"

"Not a thing. Do you think he'll be okay?"

Nightwing seemed to sigh. "Well, the last time something happened to someone he cared about, he blamed himself for a long time, in fact I still think he blames himself for Jason Todd. I honestly don't know. We'll find out more once he gets to New York. I don't think he would leave us out in the cold forever. He maybe stubborn at times, but not _that_ stubborn – mostly."

"I hope you're right."

Nightwing smirked. "Getting bored yet?"

"How'd you know?" Robin quirked a brow.

"Well, I _was_ the old Robin remember?"

"Oh, duh." Tim sighed and smacked his forehead, well, not literally, but mentally he did. In fact, he felt very—very stupid after he said that, but he would move on before it could be brought up again. "So, are you coming back to the mansion now?"

"I think so, it doesn't seem like anything big is going to be happening tonight. If something happens later, I'm sure the Batsignal will go up. I'll be in shortly."

He cut off the signal and Robin leaned back into the chair. Where exactly was Batman now? Was he almost to New York? Tim knew he took a plane there, so it would be only so many hours before he reached his destination, but what would he do when he got there? Would he bring Catwoman's body back to Gotham? Would he go out for revenge? He almost did that with the Joker two times. Would now be any different? So many questions that the young boy didn't have the answers too. All he could now was wait. And he hated waiting.

-----------------

The police were still at the scene, and a few news crews for that matter, but the actual crime had taken place deep inside the empty warehouse, far enough to keep the wandering eyes of the media away. Harvey Bullock sighed, why did Gordon have to send him on the first plane here? He didn't like being out of town, the had enough crazies as it is in Gotham, what'd it matter if one in another state kicked the bucket? He grumbled to himself and walked passed the various people and underneath the yellow tape after he showed his badge. Daylight would be coming soon, and he was tired as hell as it was. He should be home sleeping or drinking a cold one by now. Ah, such is the life of a cop. He supposed the comiss sent him here after he heard it was the cat lady who got bagged. He wasn't sure though, he said he needed someone to confirm who it was and that it might mean that Gotham City was next on the hit list. Bullock mentally shrugged and walked through the warehouse.

He wasn't, however, prepared for what he saw.

Blood. Blood everywhere. He took careful steps in order not to foot his foot in anything unwanted. A younger officer spotted him and strolled over.

"Pretty gruesome isn't it?" The kid shook his head nervously, Harvey could tell he had gotten rather sick from the sight, but he couldn't blame him. He was haven't his own troubles just trying to keep his lunch down. _Never should've eaten that airline food._

"Where's the body?" Might as well get down to business, eh Bullock ol' boy? He sighed to himself before looking at the kid again. He didn't bother getting his name, it wouldn't matter much anyway, he didn't plan on staying here for any longer than he possibly had to. No wonder the commissioner didn't come himself.

"Eh, in various … places." The kid spoke and then looked away like he was going to lose _his_ lunch.

"What?" Bullock heard him all right, but he had to make sure he wasn't just hearing things.

"We found her all over the place, really messy this time. It was obvious that it was the same person or group by the style, but they did this one in more of a rush. In order to get an ID after we took pictures of everything we placed the body back in… order. If you follow me, you can see the body if you really want to."

"Eh, might as well. The comiss wanted me to make sure it was our cat lady you found."

"I wouldn't know about that," he spoke while walking, "but the person who gave the first ID of the body did say it was Catwoman, I guess that was when my chief telephoned yours?"

"I guesso." Bullock just wanted to get this over with.

"I have to go check on something, if you need anything just holler." The kid left quickly, he figured he just didn't want to see it again, if it was as bad as he said, there is no way Bullock could blame him.

They both stopped in front of a figured draped in a cloth. Blood was already seeping into the covering turning it from white to. Harvey swallowed before reaching for the cloth. He quickly pulled away the sheet, but he shut his eyes at the sight of the blood. His body involuntarily turned away. He was about to force himself to take another look when…

"It's not her."

The voice caused him to spin around. "Gah! It's _you!_" Batman. Batman was here? Why? Why did he have to sneak up on him like that?! "Dontcha know it's not nice to come up behind people's backs?! Why the hell the Commissioner lets you get away--"

"Look at the costume, and at her skin tone, it's not her." Batman seemed relatively calm considering what he must have seen.

Bullock glanced over at the bloody mess. The mask, and outfit was still intact, just hidden by lots of blood. Wait, the mask was black, and larger. He kneeled down to take a closer look, but he had to hold his breath as he did so. Batman was right. The skin was too dark, the cat-lady they had wasn't that tanned. The outfit also seemed different, from what he could see that was left of the legs it was like there were strategically placed slash marks. He rose to his feet. "She almost looks like one of those, you know, street hookers. The leather bra and all. At least I think that's a bra." He brought a hand under his hat and scratched his head. "So why'd they say this was catwoman?"

"Apparently that's what she called herself." Batman moved and walked around to the other side of the body. "I spoke with a detective who had met up with her before. He said her real name was Patience Phillips, she had been suffering some sort of disillusions."

"Sounds like she could be the sister to our cat-thief."

"I don't believe _our_ Catwoman ever claimed to be one of nine that was granted powers by an Egyptian goddess." Batman canted his head glancing over at Bullock, who wished he could see past those white lenses in the cowl.

"Geez, and here I thought we had all the crazies. How did this detective know her?"

"He said they met a few times, but she snapped after a cosmetics company fired her. She almost killed the owner of it. She was being placed in an institution and was going to be seeking mental help when she escaped." He looked down at the body again. "When the detective identified the body as Catwoman, they must not have realized it was a different one."

"Well ain't that somethin' … I guess catty will be glad that the girl isn't around to take her name now." He scratched his head again. He looked over to where the younger officer had originally run off to. "So why'd ya come down here anyway, you don't have a thing for the cat--" He turned back around to find that he was talking to nothing but air. "Ah damnit, I don't know how the commissioner stands it. Damn freaks."

He was pulling the sheet back over the body when an arm started to roll away. He kicked it back under then glanced around to make sure no one had seen him do it. He was pretty much in the clear but he almost jumped when the kid-cop ran up to him.

"Detective Bullock! Detective Bullock!" He skidded to a stop beside him, he was almost out of breath when he tried to speak. "I… there…"

"Whoa, hold on kid, slow down will ya? Take a deep breath, now tell me what it is?"

"We may have a witness."

"Well don't that beat all." Bullock stepped over to the kid. "Well who is it? And where are they?" He thought for a small moment, and interrupted the kid before he even had a chance to answer. "Waita minute, I thought these guys didn't leave no witnesses? You know, big clean up job?"

"Apparently they missed one. I think someone saved her." He grabbed the older detective's arm and practically dragged him to where the woman was being kept. Far way from the media and also far enough away from the body.

The girl was petite, small frame, light blonde hair. She was covered by a blanket and obviously scared as hell. She pulled the dark cloth tightly around her frame. She seemed well enough to answer questions, but she was also scared her than a pig on slaughtering day. He did his best not to look intimidating. He started with the easy questions first. Name, where she worked, what she was doing there. Her name was Melissa Jonson, she was a waitress to a diner down the street. She always walked this way home passed the warehouse every night. She was usually in a group, but this time she had to leave later. _You got lucky, lady, real lucky._

"I heard the screams, it was so awful. I couldn't ignore it, I thought I should. But I had to look, and I saw … I saw…." She broke down, tears pouring down her face. She brought her hands up and tried to stop her eyes from watering so much. Harvey reached into his pockets trying to look for a handkerchief or something, but all he could find was lint.

"We can stop for awhile, ma'am, if it's too much." He wasn't good at this comforting stuff. He should have brought someone along that could take all the crying.

"No…" She took down her hands. "No, I have to tell you this." The tears were still there, but they resided some. "I went through the door. I saw it, she was already dying, it was too late… the blood… oh… the blood." She started to cry again, but she shook her head trying to stop herself. "Then they saw me. I tried to fun. Lord knows I did, but I got hit by something, I don't know what, it was all too fast. I was frozen in place. I couldn't control my motions. I was somehow walking towards them, I wanted to stop, really I did, but I couldn't. My body wouldn't obey me, I just kept on stepping forward."

"Did you see what they looked like?"

"No," she shook her head. "I did see that there was more than one, but my vision was starting to get all fuzzy, they were in the shadows too, I could just see shapes, colored shapes. And the voice, I heard a voice."

"Eh, what'd it sound like?" Now it was starting to get interesting, they might have an actual lead now. Who knew, maybe he would be able to solve the crime and catch the bad guys without Batman. Then again, he heard what happened to those other officers and he didn't want to end up like that, he'd rather let the Bat be the one who got offed, not him. It was bad for the health, you know?

"Like…" She paused as she thought about it. "Like a robot. It was male though, I could make out that much. It told me I shouldn't have been there, and now I would be an empty casualty. I was so scared … so scared, but I couldn't do anything, I couldn't speak, I couldn't run, I couldn't do anything!" She grabbed Bullock's arm. "Do you have any idea what that's like?"

He ignored the question in order to ask his own, he needed to get as much information from her as possible before she completely lost it. "How did you manage to get out?"

"That's the thing, it was all so strange. One of the shapes approached, I thought I was going to die that instant. If I could I would have closed my eyes. Then, then something hit the shape, another shape. The hold that was over me went away and I fell to the ground. I could barely move, and my sight didn't improve, but I could see fighting… I think it was fighting. So fast, so much movement. The one shape, the one that knocked the others away, it threw something down, there was a flash, but I couldn't move my eyes to look away. I couldn't' see for awhile after that, I thought I went blind, I couldn't hear anything for awhile either." She looked away, it was so hard for her to continue, but it almost seemed like a force was driving her to. "Then I felt something, it was against my neck, sharp, almost a prick, but then I felt better, my senses started to come back. It was slow at first. I could make out the shape again. I didn't if it was one of the ones who tried to kill me. I tried to scream, but it covered my mouth. It spoke like a robot too, it said it wasn't going to hurt me. That I needed to go and hide right now. But, before I left, it-it gave me this."

She reached into her purse and dug around for a moment then pulled out a small cylinder with a yellowish liquid inside. Harvey didn't even want to consider what the liquid was, but he took the container anyway. "Did it say what this stuff was?"

"No, only that I should give it to someone, something who could stop them. I-I didn't know what to do at first. I ran as hard as I could, I didn't plan on going out today, or ever. But then I saw your image on the news, they showed you at the scene. I had seen you on the TV before, when I was in Gotham visiting my aunt."

Well, whaddya know? He's actually famous. His ego almost increased to twice until she added "and Batman lives in Gotham, I figured you'd be able to give it to him." Then it shrunk to half of that. He let out a sigh. Yeah, yeah, he'd give it to Batman, that damned freak always got all the glory. Ah, what the hell, he'd be the one who'd have to deal with the killer-robot-squad anyway, better the bats than him. He rose and gave the woman a pat on the shoulder. "Thank you, ma'am. I'll make sure he gets this right away. You better stay with the police for awhile, they'll get you settled some place safe."

"Thank you so much!" She jumped up on hugged him, wrapping her arms all the way around him.

He blushed deeply. "Aw, shucks ma'am, but I … I really have to go now."

She let him go. "Oh, I'm sorry, forgive me."

"Perfectly all right." Not every day that a pretty girl hugged you that much anyway, he grinned to himself.

"But I mean it, thank you."

"Don't mention it."

He tipped his hat and stepped away. He ignored the rookie kid and all his questions, the girl told her more than him it seemed. He just wanted to get back home and take a nice long shower and a nap. He was tired as hell right about now. Sure he had to get the nasty yellow stuff to the bat-freak, but he had rights too you know, and that could wait until after he got the lingering filth off his body and had a little shut eye. Besides he didn't even know if Batman would be back in Gotham by then. He didn't have the heart, or pride, to tell the girl that she had just missed 'em. Ah well, can't win them all. He walked steadily back to the outside of the warehouse, avoiding all the media to the best that he could. He dialed a number on his cell phone, which he still hated – stupid device was never working when he wanted it to – and waited for someone to pick up.

"Ah, hello? Commiss? Ya, you won't believe what I found. Nope, it wasn't our gal, some other loony. It's funny how everywhere seems to have them now, eh? Heh, ran into your pal here too. When I get back I have a lot to tell you, be ready to fire up the bat signal tonight. I have some information that even he might want to hear. Yah, I'll be back soon. I'll see you then."

He disconnected the call and glanced around for a taxi. He remembered one of the reasons he hated New York, he could never find a god-damned taxi, it was worse than Gotham on a busy day. Now he really couldn't wait to get home.

-----------------

"Are you certain that's what he said?" Nightwing strolled back into the batcave after taking a nice, long, hot shower. While, he didn't honestly mean it at first, it was nice to have someone to order around a bit, even if he did know how it felt to be Robin.

"Yeep. It wasn't Catwoman, er, it was _a_ catwoman, but not _the_ Catwoman." He wondered if that made any sense, but Nightwing caught the drift of it soon enough.

"Heh, a copycat. We've have quite a few of those." He smirked before folding his arms across his chest. "I'd almost think with the amount I've heard of, Catwoman could have started her own posse by now."

"Why hasn't she?"

"Maybe she likes being alone better? I don't know. I can't image having a partner is the easiest thing to work with." He shot a glance in Robin's direction.

"Yeah, I heard you were pretty bull-headed."

Nightwing threw up his arms. "What? Me? Never!"

"Never what, master Dick?" Alfred's voice came in from behind.

Sometimes Tim had to wonder if that's where Batman got his sneaking abilities from. He could always show up out of no where! Why couldn't he be that stealth-like? The balding man gave him a glance before setting down a tray of various snack foods. Hey, he was good to have around for that sort of thing. They'd probably never go hungry that way. No, he'd bother them to death and make them eat – not that he minded much. Food was always a good thing.

"Nothing, Alfred." Robin piped. He could have sworn he heard the butler mumble something about youngsters, but he couldn't make it out, and he was out of room before he could even ask. Robin shrugged it off, it probably wasn't anything important anyway.

"So, did Batman say anything else about this cat-wanna-be?" Dick leaned against the cave wall near where the computer rested.

"Well, no, he didn't even say much about the outfit, he just said that he knew for a fact that it wasn't _our_ Catwoman. I think he was relieved though, actually, I would say I am almost certain he was. It was something in his voice."

"You aren't _that_ up to date with Batman and Catwoman's past are you?" Dick smirked and pushed himself away from the wall. He took one of the extra seats at the computer.

"Okay, what do you know that I don't?" Tim quirked a brow – there were many things Batman wouldn't tell him, or would just mumble about when he asked, maybe this would be an ample time to get some real answers – from someone who has been there.

"Weeeell," Dick didn't seem to know where to begin. He leaned back in the chair, placing his hands behind his head. "I'm not sure how exactly to put this, but they seemed to have met up long even before I became Robin." Tim received a glance from him when he stopped, as if to make sure he was still listening, but there was no way the new Robin would miss this for the world. "Eh, he wouldn't talk about her much at first, except 'she is a thief and must be stopped' but it was always amazing how she seemed to get away, huh? He said she was extremely agile, but if you've been around him long enough, you know there are very few things that can set him back. You'd almost get the impression that he was holding back with her, that he didn't _want_ to actually take her to jail. That's the feeling I've always gotten anyway." He shrugged. "She's not a bad person, she may do some bad things at times, but she never kills anyone and has helped us out repeatedly. I know Batman cares about her, deeply, even if he refuses to let on. It's creepy in a way."

Tim arched a brow. "Why is that?"

"It makes him seem almost human."

"Sometimes I think he's more of an alien than Superman is."

Dick chuckled. "Would you believe him and Superman don't really get along?"

"I wonder why, they seem so much alike."

"Would you two refrain from comparing me to Clark?" A voice crackled in over the radio via the bat computer. Tim almost jumped, and Dick lost his footing and fell backwards in the chair.

"Batman! How?!" Tim practically called out. And how much did you hear? He added the last part in mentally.

"You forgot to turn off the radio again, and I seemed to have caught the tail end of a rather _interesting_ conversation. May I ask what makes me seem almost human?" Good, he hadn't heard the whole thing. At least he knew he wouldn't get that big of a lecture now.

"When you do human…things." Well, that was stupid. Robin glanced over at Dick who was picking himself off the floor. He gave him a shrug back in response. "When are you coming back?" He quickly changed the subject and hoped Batman wouldn't notice.

If he did, he didn't let on. "I am already in Gotham. It's already daylight, and you two should get some sleep while you still can. I'll brief you more on what I know tonight. Batman out."

"Once a boss, always a boss." Dick shook his head.

-----------------

The next day had been relatively uneventful. Bruce Wayne, the Batman, spent most of the day trying to analyze everything that had happened in the previous days. He was extremely relieved to have found that it wasn't the purple-clad feline felon he knew who met her end at the hand of the world's newest killers, but it bothered him that he had been so worked up over it. Of course he didn't want anyone to meet a fate so horrible, but he felt like he had been on the verge of snapping after he heard the initial news. He wasn't sure what he would have done had it been true. He did not like having himself fall for a thief, they were on opposite sides, no matter how many times she tried to play with his emotions he constantly reminded himself that it would not work.

He avoided both Tim and Dick most of the day, he still was at a loss concerning who might be committing the murders even after all the information he attempted to gather. His two 'partners' of sorts must have felt that he needed some time alone because they did not seem to object when he left the cave alone that night. Even Batgirl chose to stay with them. He figured they were talking about him earlier; actually it was rather obvious they were when they were all gathered in the Batcave and just _stopped_ talking as he walked in. He ignored it for the most part. He wanted to see if Gordon found out anything new, he would let them gossip about him for now.

However, they better hope he never catches them in the act.

He caught the batsignal in the sky shortly after he decided to change his course towards the police station. A rather coincidental and ironic change of events, but with what had been happening, it wasn't all that surprising that Gordon would be calling him. He reached the roof-top rather quickly, of course when he finally got there, it wasn't the police chief waiting for him, rather it was someone else, someone he was rather glad to see….

"Get off of there." He spoke in a low voice to the purple figure sprawled out on the top of the metal light. She turned over on her side and grinned at him.

"I know, I know, it's not a toy. Why don't you give me your phone number and address then I won't need to contact you this way," she flashed a smile.

"Catwoman," he didn't have time for her games, even if he was relieved that she was all right. "You should be laying low. You _do_ know about the killings, right?"

"Yes," she replied, rolling over to her back again. "I heard I died. Pity. I would have really liked to be there for my own death."

"No, you wouldn't have enjoyed it," he thought back to how the body looked. He didn't even want to imagine her in that situation. "Why did you turn on the signal?"

"To let you know I was still alive." She jumped down off of the structure and strolled over to him. She watched as he folded his arms across his chest. "So here I am."

"I checked to see if it was you when I heard." He glanced over at her again.

"Who knew you cared. I have nine lives anyway, if it had, I'm sure I'd get back up again," she grinned.

"You don't honestly believe that do you?" He thought back to what he had heard about the other woman, and the 'cat-powers' she believed she carried.

"No, and even if I did, I'd probably be on my ninth life anyway," she almost seemed to laugh at her own comment.

Batmand didn't care for her joking around about such a serious situation. At any time the killers could target her, and he might not be there to save her. He was certain she could take care of herself in most situations, but he didn't want to take that chance right now. "Like I said, you shouldn't be out and about right now."

"Why not when I have someone like you to protect me?" She brought up a hand and traced around the bat symbol on his chest. He _hated_ when she did that.

"I thought you didn't like to be protected."

"True, but where else would I be completely safe? Why don't you bring me back to your little hide out and we'll talk more there. If _talking_ is what you really want to do?" She purred at him. Why the hell was she flirting with him at a time like this?

He cleared his throat. "Why don't I put you in jail? You'd be safe there as well."

"Screw you too," she huffed and turned away from. Was she mad at him? Probably, but she'd get over it soon enough.

He let out what had to have been the longest sigh ever. "Please, be careful the next few nights. For me?" That seemed to work because she glanced back over at him and smiled.

"For you, anything." The sound of a door opening caught her attention. The commissioner must have noticed the light on. "But for now, I gotta fly. Take care, Batman." She blew a kiss in his direction before leaping over the ledge. He didn't bother to go after her – he knew she would be fine.

"The light?" He heard Gordon's voice speak out in surprise, he should be used to this sort of thing by now. "Batman?"

"Catwoman wanted to prove that she was still alive." Batman looked out into the city a bit longer before moving towards Gordon.

"Ahh, well, I can't blame her. Though, the killers might not have known there are two cat-women about. They might not think to go after her now."

"I won't put that much past them." _It would be foolish to do otherwise._

"True, speaking of which," he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small cylinder. "Bullock brought this back from New York. There was a witness to the murder, she wasn't able to give many details. But it seems that someone who knows about them saved her from ending up with the same fate as the victim. She gave this to him to give to you. I suppose she figured you'd be the best man for the job, and I agree." He handed the container to Batman, who took it in his hand and looked at it for a moment before placing it in a pocket on his utility belt. "We don't have the man power or technology for things like that, but I have a feeling you do. Though, I wonder who decided to help out now when all the murders happened before. Why wait so long?"

"Maybe they finally got tired of all the killing."

"In any case, it looks like we may finally have an ally."

"Or someone trying to throw us off guard."

"True, but I'd rather be optimistic at the moment."

Batman choose not to respond to that comment, he walked to the ledge of the building and pulled out his grappling hook. "I'll see what I can find out."

"Thank you, Batman."

The dark knight nodded and soon was lost into the shadows.

-----------------

Batman stared at the images on the screen. Nightwing stood beside him, and Oracle's image floated in a small corner on the computer. Robin and Batgirl were out making the rounds, so it was just the three of them and Alfred who would come in occasionally to bother them to do little things like, eat and take breaks. Batman didn't have time for breaks though, he wanted to figure this out, and as quickly as possible, which is why he enlisted Oracle's help.

"They look like tiny machines," Nightwing spoke up, narrowing his eyes at the images.

"They are. Nano-machines to be exact," Oracle replied. Batman remained silent so she decided to continue. "I'm not sure what they do exactly, but they seem to remain dormant in this state. I did a few tests on the sample you sent me. When you take them out of the liquid, they seem to self destruct, but if you put them into a living organism they replicate up to a certain point then just stop."

"What do you think they are?" Nightwing looked over at Batman.

"I don't know," he paused. "Oracle, did your tests show anything else? Anything at all?"

"Well, when I injected a rat with it, it just…froze in place. It was still alive, but, it stopped doing anything, except for basic functions like the heart and lungs. Maybe this is what the group used on their victims."

"It would explain how they are able to take so many out at once," Nightwing shuttered at the thought, he had heard stories about how some of them died.

"But the nano machines don't seem dangerous otherwise," Batman could see Oracle shrug through the image. "Actually, now that I think about it more, I have a theory on what they do aside from paralyzing the victims."

"Go on." Batman was truly interested now.

"I tracked their movements in the rat, they made their way mostly to the central nervous system, which is nothing new considering the paralysis, but I did notice one other thing. They seemed to be mainly focus on the brain. Now, what if that's what they were for? If they controlled the mind of a person or animal they could stop their movements right? Think of it as sort of a mind controlling device but only from the inside."

Nightwing seemed rather surprised by her words. "It almost sounds like it makes Hatter's cards look like child toys."

"Now, without testing my theory, I can't tell you for sure, but if I'm right, this could make things a whole lot more dangerous."

"The ultimate mind controlling device. Is there anyway to find out what organization or people would have access to this advanced of technology?" With the information on the machines, they might be able to track it back to its source, and perhaps maybe – just maybe find out who is behind it all. He had to admit, this was the first good news they had in days.

"I don't know, but I'll get on it right away. I'll use all my contacts and see what I can pull up. I'll contact you when I find out anything. Oracle out." She broke the connection leaving the two men to just look at each other – but Batman wasn't looking anywhere in Dick's direction, he was, rather, still staring at the screen.

"We could always track down the Hatter, since he did use mind control in the past he might be able to help," the blue and black Bludhaven knight decided to add in.

"There is too little time for that. I have another idea."

"What? Who else would know about mind control?"

Batman didn't answer, but there was no need to. Nightwing would find out soon enough. He knew who he had to go to now, he didn't like calling upon the aide of villains, but this one might be able to help considering the circumstances. If not, he could always threaten them with how grave the situation was, that may not work, but sometimes it did, and he prayed if he was pushed to that point, it would. Now all he had to do was make a little trip.

A trip to a place that was sometimes referred to as hell on Earth.

A place known as Arkham Asylum.


End file.
